Don't Mess With Math by: Karah Quinones

The Distributive Property...  I was at math cadre (a gathering of a representative of each middle school math teacher in the District where we talk  data, learn new high yield instructional strategies and collaborate to create activities) talking to my instructional coach and chatting about the my data  from the previous year related to TEK 6.7D.  My instructional coach used the word grouping and after that day I have revamped the way I teach the Distributive Property!! Step 1 - I continue to use the Target theme to discuss distributing packages to each "person" in the parentheses.  This is time where  I really cheese out and talk about how horrible it would be if Target only distributed a package to the older gentlemen and took money from the little boy and never distributed a package to him. Step 2 - Here is the big change that I made!  Now, I always have my students verbalize that we have 2 groups of x plus 4.  My students learn to ...

So... it's that time of the year again, No not Christmas, it's time for THE Observation.  I am a seasoned teacher (wait, 7-8 years teaching is seasoned, correct?) with many wonderful reviews/observations/walk-thrus, etc. behind my belt. I am a confident teacher and love all things curriculum, engagement, rigor, technology and building student relationships.  So, why do I freak out when I have an observation.  All of a sudden, my confidence goes out the door and I second guess everything.  Recently I have been noticing on Twitter teachers placing the "Observe Me" sign outside of their door.  I think it's amazing for the instructing teacher and for the teachers observing.  All I can think of is when the Principal walks in, I get the feeling of when you pass a cop car and slam on the breaks even though you are going the speed limit.  I freeze on the inside and put on my best game face I have.  I always ask myself why am I such a nerd about thi...

Actually, my students love you!  I can not ask for more engagement when I use the draw portion of Nearpod.  We do have a little fun with it... the students may or may not draw silly pictures or take a selfie when using it, but only and only if they show all work!  I make them swipe left and try again if they have a unicorn pic (it seems to be all the craze at my school these days) and do not show all their work.  I also take the time and look at each pic and praise students.  It really doesn't take too much time because I just keeping clicking right and keep on moving.  The students really feel validated when I highlight their work and praise them or give constructive feedback.  My lower students also get in the game because they see some of the other work on screen and it helps them get started. Here are some examples from writing equations from tables: Not all my students have it correct, but it is a great way to check for understanding and...

I have a substitute tomorrow... ugh I never could create a full proof substitute lesson plan until now!  I have fallen in love with Google classroom this year.  I mostly just add announcements so my students find all my links:  google forms, applicable games, etc.  However, now my students are trained to go to google classroom every day that I have a substitute.  They select the link to my google slides which provides all instructions and links to the activities for the day.  This is such a time saver and if I am sick, I can just do it from home.  No more early trips to school to run copies and sub plans!!! Here is an example of my lesson plan for tomorrow...    

I always love a new year and a fresh start.  I have noticed I keep telling my students that is a New Year, A New You and A New Unit (then they groan)! ha This unit is one of my favorites the year.  We started with Independent and Dependent Events the first day back from break.  I thought it was a nice easy way to get back into the swing of things.  First up, we took notes.  I will definitely be changing the notes for next year.  The notes felt a bit disjointed.  However, I won back my students and their understanding with a four question teacher paced Socrative.  If you haven't tried Socrative, I would highly recommend it.  I will provide a tutorial video in the near future.  After the Socrative, my students played a Quizziz to reinforce all the major points from today's lesson. I would have to say that Quizziz is one of my go to programs.  I start my class with a Quizziz warm up almost every single day.  My students can no...